[JB Weld]

Thursday evening I had about 30 minutes to enjoy a little fly fishing with my daughter’s 5wt fly rod. The weather was perfect and the bream were cooperating! I pulled in 6 bluegills on about 12 casts. I was having fun and it took me back to the early 80s when I learned to fly fish with my buddy’s 7wt rig: white Eagle Claw fiberglass rod, Southbend click reel (from Walmarts), white parallel fly line (with no backer), and about 5’ of 6# Stren for a leader (we had no idea what a tippet was). We would get on the lake in an old 14’ John boat and just scull around the edge of the lake whupping that water to a froth trying to float our Walmarts flies up under every overhanging branch and next to every grass bed. Man! Would we ever pile up the bream. It is one of my fondest memories of growing up.
On Thursday, I was reminiscing about all of this as I was fishing. When I hung my 7th fish it was a goodern and it broke off my Wooly Booger. So I thought this is the perfect time to try Ol Easy. It is a fly I read about in The Backwoodsman magazine and tied up a few. It is a tough fly and easy to cast. It is basically made from trash so I think that is pretty cool. A while ago I posted the instructions on how to tie one. I will see if I can find that link. Ol Easy proved to be very effective and the bream were smashing it! I quickly pulled in 6 more. It was a beautiful evening to be on the water. Nothing brings peace to my soul like the feel of fly line slipping through my fingers and seeing that line roll out with the fly softly settling on the water.
What are some other fly fishing tales….how did you get started?

 

[JB Weld]

Here is the recipe for Ol Easy. Tie up a few in a variety of colors. They are not fancy but they work!

Old Easy - A fly to tie for panfish

I had referenced this fly in another thread, but I figured I would create a thread about how to tie it so that it would be easier to find if anyone wanted to create the fly. This is from an article in The Backwoodsman Magazine (My favorite paper publication). It is from the Jan/Feb 2014 issue...

www.arkansashunting.net

 

[hillbillycycles]

JB,
Great stuff. I grew up watching my grandfather fly fish and always wanted to try. Unfortunately, all his gear was lost in a fire when I was young and he never replaced it.
Flash forward a few years and I’m working at the paper mill in Morrilton. It was 1995 and the school there was still Petite Jean Vo Tech. Saw they had a beginning fly fishing class for $15. One night a week for 6-8 weeks. Most expensive $15 I ever spent.
I now have 5, 6, and 7 weight stuff. Nothing super fancy but the 5 weight is a complete Orvis setup from around 1998.
You have inspired me. I may break out one of the old rods this weekend and shuffle over to the neighbors pond.

 

[jackie53]

Thank you Enjoyed.... How do you hook those flys?
How do you cook flys?
What the limit on flys? Lol
Really, Really enjoyed JB...Carry on...
Love fly fishing..will any Fishing..

 

[JB Weld]

JB,
Great stuff. I grew up watching my grandfather fly fish and always wanted to try. Unfortunately, all his gear was lost in a fire when I was young and he never replaced it.
Flash forward a few years and I’m working at the paper mill in Morrilton. It was 1995 and the school there was still Petite Jean Vo Tech. Saw they had a beginning fly fishing class for $15. One night a week for 6-8 weeks. Most expensive $15 I ever spent.
I now have 5, 6, and 7 weight stuff. Nothing super fancy but the 5 weight is a complete Orvis setup from around 1998.
You have inspired me. I may break out one of the old rods this weekend and shuffle over to the neighbors pond.

Go do it for sure! You know you will love it.
That pond I fished on Thursday has a bank area about 100 yards long covered in sawbriars. I am headed back there soon to slip a little boat in the water to fish that bank from the water. I will bring a stringer in that trip!

 

[BKS]

It’s about the only way my wife and I fish is with fly rods. Grew up watching my dad, like said above, scuttling a boat around the trees with a flyrod. I laugh now at the rods we had back in the 70s-80s it was nothing to be swinging a fiberglass 7-8 weight to bream fish with.
No backing, a straight mono leader.

Favorite rod now is a 2wt TFO that’s 8’0 long. It sure is addicting, bought more rods today because I got a great deal on them. Haha

 

[Fisk]

My favorite magazine.

 

[dartonmav60]

Thanks for sharing! I too started out fly fishing! Popping bug and a Brem killer was all I ever used or needed.

 

[junkyardwarrior]

was out spin fishing on the little red a while back and found a perfectly new Martin fly setup. Line, rod, reel, box of flies-all sitting in about 2 foot of water. Nobody around. Ain't been there that long when I seen it. Put an ad up on the "friends of little red river" FB page, nobody claimed it so I kept it. This was a blessing really, since when I was visiting my girlfriend's parents in Batesville a year or so ago, the illustrious neighbors stole my old one right out of the back seat of my truck. Note that I didn't say much about it other than confronting them and asking them if they needed help.

--anyway--I rarely use my fly setup on the little red. One, I can't cast it to save my butt. Two, the line usually ends up wrapped around my head, a tree, the boat, my co-angler (if there is one), you get the idea. Three, tying the knots after breaking the tippit off sucks. I just ain't no good at it. A few weeks ago I was drifting downriver (spin fishing) and one of the guides came up beside me in their boat asking what's biting on what. Told him, and he asked me if I had a fly rig. I do, but I don't use it, explaining why. He hands me an Orvis 5wt rig that they use for clients. OMG I can actually cast it, it rolls out perfectly, and frankly I kinda like it. But, IMO they are way too pricy for my blood. I don't have $250 tied up in all my spinning rigs combined-and probably not in tackle either.

But nonetheless I still carry the little Martin over to my brother's pond and love love to tear up the bream with it. Hung a 7 pound catfish with it last week, landed it too. What a fight. Turned the fish back into the pond. I don't need it, but there may come a day when either him or I do so it can stay in there until then.

 

[JB Weld]

Many times with the beginner kits, they are equipped with parallel line.
A good weight forward line is much easier to cast.

 

[RAZ]

My first recollection of fly fishing was around 1957. Equipment and terminology was very different than now. As far as I know the term weight hadn’tbeen written at that time. We used Shakespeare, Heddon, and South Bend rods in med, light action. Cortland 333 line with a slip in eyelet to attach the leader. Line dressing was a necessity. South Bend Orenomatic and Martin automatics were the only two automatic reels available. Manual reels were more common. White and yellow popping bugs, bream killers, water hags, and holly groves were the flies of choice. I knew of no one who tied their flies back then. All store bought. Fished Piney Creek and Illinois bayou back then ( before Lake Dardanelle) in a 12’ plywood boat. It was a Jimmy B. manufactured in Conway. Primarily bass in the creeks. Later got into bream when Lake Atkins was formed.That was the most fun I ever had with a fly rod in my hands. I can’t think of anything more fun I had than fly fishing and bird hunting. Never got to do any fly fishing for trout .... I missed the boat there.

 

[frogleg]

To be honest fly fishing just looks like way too much work.

 

[RAZ]

To be honest fly fishing just looks like way too much work.

Try you a twist of snagging, son. Worse that hauling hay.....

 

[JB Weld]

There is a little bit of a learning curve for sure, but it is a bunch of fun and very rewarding way to fish.

 

[Quack addict]

I've always wished I could do that type of fishing. I'd have that line hung up in every limb and tree or wrapped around me like a mummy.

 

[JB Weld]

Well, the good news is that you can practice casting in your yard (with no hook on the line). Just stay away from any power lines.....

 

[junkyardwarrior]

if the neighbor's cat (or yours) is outside, great time to practice fly casting. No hook of course but it's awful entertaining

 

[Caveman jim]

My uncle taught me fly fishing for bream on the Uwharrie river in N C when I was about 9 I think, it was a different way to fill the cooler. I loved using a surface popper and caught bass on them too but I sure missed my cane pole and bobber a lot.